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breaking news

The Dolphins turned in a disastrous performance Sunday with their playoff hopes on the line, and the result was a crushing 13-10 loss to the Browns that will end any discussion of the Dolphins reaching the postseason this year.

No one embodied yesterday’s loss more than Chad Henne, who took a major step back after two solid performances against Tennessee and Oakland. Henne had the worst statistical performance of his brief career with three interceptions and a 37.8 passer rating.

So it only makes sense to have a quarterback-themed Talking Points today:

1. Chad Henne, not Dan Henning, is the one who went conservative yesterday.

The Dolphins had a promising start to the game, with Henne taking the offense down to Cleveland’s 31-yard line. But on third-and-10 from the 31, the Dolphins curiously handed off to Ricky Williams for an 8-yard gain to set up a field goal instead of trying to throw for a first down. The next play, a 41-yard field goal, was blocked.

The Dolphins went conservative a second time yesterday. On third-and-8 from Cleveland’s 49-yard line in a tie ballgame, the Dolphins again ran Williams for 3 yards instead of trying to throw the ball. They punted away, and Cleveland took the subsequent drive 94 yards for a touchdown.

The playcalls drew more than a few boos from the crowd, and left many Dolphins fans screaming at offensive coordinator Dan Henning for his conservative playcalling.

But don’t blame Henning for at least the first call, and probably the second one, too. Henne had the option at the line of scrimmage to call a run or pass based on the defensive coverage. And Henne opted to run.

“When you have nine guys dropping and eight guys dropping in coverage, there’s not many holes out there to throw the ball,” Henne said. “So, our best bet is to run the ball, see if we can break it open and have our guys up front block for him.”

So the Dolphins now have a quarterback who would rather hand the ball off than take his chances downfield. The Browns tested his decision-making all game long, and Henne failed.

“They were making you work, go through the progression and see if I had checked the ball down and make the smart decision,” Henne said. “And sometimes I did, and other times the interceptions happened.”

Henne now has thrown 12 touchdowns against 15 interceptions this year, and his 77.5 passer rating is 25th-best in the NFL, one spot below Oakland’s Jason Campbell. And now you can add “decision-making” to the list of his struggles.

“One of the interceptions made today, the ball should have gone to a different place, and didn’t,” head coach Tony Sparano said. “You just can’t turn the ball over at that rate.”

Which leads us to point No. 2 ….

2. Why not give Tyler Thigpen another shot?

What do you have to lose at this point? The team is 6-6 and the playoff chances are done. Now you have to evaluate what you’ve got heading into the offseason. Henne has shown his stripes — why not give Thigpen another look?

Thigpen only got one chance this year, and he wasn’t playing with a full deck. His lone start came three games ago against the Bears, when he had a short week of preparation, a make-shift offensive line and Brandon Marshall gimpy with a hamstring injury.

Thigpen certainly didn’t do anything special that night, with 187 yards and an interception, but he did make a couple big throws, can make plays with his feet and has never been given a chance to start on a competitive team.

Let’s see what Thigpen can do with a full week of preparation. At this point, why not?

First of all, the Dolphins’ current regime has hitched its wagon to Henne, for better or worse. For Jeff Ireland and Sparano to admit that they whiffed on Henne and they now need to bring in a big-name free agent or rookie quarterback would put their jobs in jeopardy, if they aren’t already. And the Dolphins aren’t going to ditch Henne for any old quarterback. For that move to happen, the Dolphins would need to find a sure-thing quarterback for next year.

There are only three, maybe four, quarterbacks in this upcoming draft who are worth a heavy investment, both monetarily and by giving him the keys to the franchise — Andrew Luck, Ryan Mallett, Cam Newton and perhaps Jake Locker. All the other quarterbacks in the draft will be taken in rounds 3-7, and the current Dolphins regime doesn’t have the time to develop another project. It needs to win now.

And drafting one of those four quarterbacks won’t be easy. At least 11 teams need a quarterback of the future — Cincinnati, San Francisco, Cleveland, Buffalo, Minnesota, Washington, Jacksonville, Oakland, Arizona, Carolina, Seattle — plus maybe Tennessee as well. The Dolphins will have a TON of competition for those four quarterbacks, and may have to part with several draft picks or key players to get in a position to draft one of them.

Then you have the free agent quarterbacks. The list isn’t pretty.

The biggest names are guys like Matt Hasselbeck (who isn’t going anywhere), Sage Rosenfels, Shaun Hill, Bruce Gradkowski, Brodie Croyle and Seneca Wallace. A veteran like Derek Anderson will probably become available. Still, the Dolphins won’t be choosing any of those players to replace Henne as the quarterback of the present or future.

The best quarterbacks on the market next year might be two guys available via trade — Philly’s Kevin Kolb and Tennessee’s Vince Young (putting aside any off-field issues and considering only his football talent). It’s possible the Dolphins could make a move. But again, it will cost them — a lot.